2023 in Review: Aquant’s Year of Breakthrough Innovation 

As we approach the end of 2023, it’s a great time to think about what we learned and accomplished this year. This year has been remarkable for many organizations, including Aquant, marked by challenges, breakthrough innovations, and transformative changes. We’ve remained dedicated to staying connected with our customers, sharing our expertise to help them navigate the complexities of AI adoption in service businesses.
 

2023’s Key Lessons

Through collaborative work with our customers and partners, we learned:

• The future is closer than we think. Generative AI is rapidly evolving, shaping our daily experiences. It’s redefining how we consume information, learn, make decisions, and drive our businesses. AI is not just a competitive edge, but an essential and inevitable path.
• Consumer expectations are evolving. Service businesses worldwide are focused on lowering First Time Fix Rates and First Contact Resolution Rates. In addition, in a world where customers want to solve problems quickly without escalating to a live agent, self-service has become non-negotiable. 
• Organizations still need to work on bridging their talent gaps. According to Aquant’s 2024 Field Service Benchmark Report, bottom-performing workers can cost their orgs 80% more than their top-performing counterparts. However, if all employees were empowered to perform like the top 20% of the workforce, service costs could be reduced by as much as 22%.
• Workers are retiring faster than organizations can replace them. The Great Resignation is impacting service organizations, further underscoring the importance of upskilling teams. Organizations need to transfer knowledge quickly and efficiently to avoid losing it entirely. 

A Year of Innovation at Aquant

With those lessons in mind, our team worked tirelessly to deliver product capabilities that adapt to industry changes, empower customers to harness the power of AI, and enhance customer experiences. Here’s a glimpse of what we’ve brought to the table:

• Introducing Aquant’s Service Co-Pilot: We launched Service Co-Pilot, a revolutionary service intelligence platform combining the best of human expertise with artificial intelligence to transform service operations. This platform allows for global connectivity, advancement, and scalability of service knowledge. 
• Service knowledge on-the-go with mobile and self-service experiences: In today’s fast-paced world, immediate problem-solving is necessary. We’ve invested in mobile accessibility and self-service options, enabling organizations to provide seamless experiences for their customers and service dealers using information from manuals and other resources.
• Better service decisions with Triage and Insights: We continued investments into Triage and Insights to help users seamlessly pinpoint symptoms, access actionable insights, and streamline the triage process.

2024 Predictions: Navigating AI Transformation Across Enterprises

As we look to 2024, the next challenge lies in navigating this new landscape and operationalizing AI within an enterprise context. Vendors offering guidance will play a critical role in helping businesses harness the full potential of AI while aligning with strategic goals and industry standards.

“In 2024, the AI landscape will see a discernible shift. If 2023 was the year of broad generative AI usage [such as ChatGPT], 2024 will be the year of hyper-personalized and industry-specific solutions.” 

– Edwin Pahk, SVP of Pre-Sales & Customer Success, Aquant

Successfully incorporating AI into business processes requires careful navigation. Edwin recommends: 

• Embracing change and Shifting Left: It’s all about transformation, and the Shift Left approach proactively resolves service issues and leverages data for meaningful business changes. At Aquant, we help organizations implement this strategy, bringing services closer to the end customer, reducing escalations, improving First Time Fix Rates, and promoting self-service experiences.
• Defining KPIs that align with your business outcomes: Connect your service data and utilize innovative tools to identify opportunities, blind spots, and risks to make better business decisions. Keeping track of critical metrics and comparing them with industry benchmarks might impact how you pivot your new strategy. Customers who measure First Time Fix Rates understand which areas they can improve and how to reduce service costs. 
• Leveraging the collective insights of your best experts, a.k.a. tribal knowledge: According to Aquant research, 30% of service solutions are not found in historical service data. Instead, the knowledge of veteran service experts contains the best answers. Bridge the gap between top and lower performers by providing an easy way to access information and learn. Infuse datasets with subject matter expertise, adopting a “human in the loop” approach to refine models and ensure accurate results. By ingesting organizational knowledge, you reduce the risk of losing critical insights if someone leaves the company.

Awards

We were thrilled to receive a few industry awards this year:

1. 2023’s Best Places to Work from Built In: The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors remote-first employers and companies in large tech markets across the U.S.
2. 2023 Technology Innovation Leadership Award from Analyst Firm Frost & Sullivan: Aquant was recognized as a North American service intelligence industry leader. Frost & Sullivan believes Aquant’s Service Co-Pilot platform could fundamentally restructure how customer service teams function across industries.
3. CB Insights’ Most Promising Vendor Ranking, Agent Support Tools: This recognition underscores Aquant’s commitment to delivering top-tier solutions to customers and its exceptional standing against its peers. CB Insights’ Challenger designation is an accolade reserved for companies positioned as the most promising within their respective market.
4. Service Council’s Award for Best Overall Solution 2023: The Service Council recognizes Aquant’s ability to deliver comprehensive and impactful services, setting a benchmark in the industry for efficiency and customer satisfaction. This accolade further cements Aquant’s status as a leader in service management solutions.

Thank you for being a part of the Aquant community!

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all our employees, customers, partners, and the broader community for their unwavering support throughout the past year. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to share our expertise and knowledge with you.

As we move forward, we are excited to continue investing in innovation and providing ongoing support to our employees, customers, and community. 
 

New Year, New Goals

Want a head start on meeting—and exceeding—your 2024 KPIs? Participate in Aquant’s 7 Day Challenge to discover how your KPIs stack up to your peers—at no cost. Our analysts will process and analyze your data via Aquant’s robust AI engine. We’ll show you the results of your org’s key metrics (including First Time Fix Rate), how you can be more efficient, and where you can save more money.

About the Author

Yuliya Shcherbachova, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Aquant

As a Product Marketing Leader at Aquant, I’m passionate about using technology and AI to tackle complex problems. I’m on a mission to make the world a better place through innovative, high-impact projects. Over the last decade, I’ve worked with hyper-growth AI companies—helping them grow, increase their revenue, and develop new product strategies.